Apparatus for advancing filamentary articles



Aug. 25, 1953 l P. R. POWELL 3,6 7-

APPARATUS FORADVANCING FILAMENTARY ARTICLES Filed Feb. 21. 1949 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

wvEn/rok I F. R. POWELL ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1953 POWELL APPARATUSLFOR ADVANCING FILAMENTARY ARTICLES Filed Feb. 21. 1949 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 m4 [film INVENTORY P. R. POWELL FIG 2 A TTORNEY Aug. 25, 1953 P. R. POWELL ,649,8 7

APPARATUS FOR ADVANCING FILAMENTARY ARTICLES I Filed Feb. 21. 1949 s Sheets-Sheet 5 V5 N TOR POWELL ATTORNEY w v I I -/77 I I// r III I Fla. .3

Aug. 25, .1953 R. POWELL v 2,649,867

APPARATUS FOR ADVANCIN'G FILAMENITARY ARTICLES INVENTOR P. R. POWELL A T TORNE V R. POWELL APPARATUS FOR ADVANCING FILAMENTARY ARTICLES Filed Feb. 21. 1949 Aug. 25, 1953 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEIN TOR P R POWELL A TTORNE V Aug. 25, 1953 P. R. POWELL APPARATUS FOR ADVANCING FILAMENTARY ARTICLES Filed Feb. 21, 1949 6 SheetsSheet 6 //v VENTOR R R POWELL By v ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 25, 1953 APPARATUS FOR ADVANCING FILAMENTARY ARTICLES Paul Powell, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New 'York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 21, 1949, Serial No. 77,547

2 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for advancing filamentary articles, and more particularly to apparatus for advancing portions of a filamentary article, such as an insulated conductor.

In processing some type of filamentary articles, it is advantageous to advance such an artic-le continuously from a storage device, such as, for example, a reel, so that the advancement of the article need not be subjected to the strains concomitant to stopping and starting the article. In the past, there has been no apparatus serving to advance a filamentary article continuously from a storage device while periodically holding portions of the article advanced from the storage stationary so that stationary articleprocessing elements could be used in performing Work on the article.

An object of the inventionis toprovide new and improved apparatus for advancing filamentary articles.

A further object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for advancing portions of a filamentary article, such as an insulated conductor. 7

An apparatus illustrating certain features of the invention may include means for supplying a filamentary article, means spaced from the article-supplying means for advancing the filamentaryarticle continuously, a pair of articledeflecting means positioned apart and between the article-supplying means and the articleadvancing means for storing portions of V the article individually, and means for actuating the article-deflecting means in amanner such that one of the pair gives up at least a portion of the with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front, elevational view of an apparatus forming one embodiment of the invention with portions thereof broken away; j i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, horizontal along line 22 of Fig. 1; g V

Fig." 3 is an: enlarged, vertical section taken along line 33 of Fig.1; 1 1 a Fig. '4 is an enlarged, vertical section taken along line 4-4'of Fig. 2;

section taken Fig. 5 is an enlarged, horizontal section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, plan view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary front elevation of the apparatus taken along line 1-1 of Fig. 3 with elements in different positions from the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 3, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged, vertical view taken alon line 88 of Fig. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein a device for continuously advancing cordage ll] along portions of a path and for periodically holding portions of the cordage stationary along other portions of the path so that these portions of the cordage may be processed. This device is disclosed with cordage processing devices, which are illustrative only insofar as the present invention is concerned. The cordage In (Figs. 1 and 2) including a jacket l2 and individually insulated conductors MI4 is advanced continuously at a constant rate of speed by a capstan I5 from a supply reel l6, over'a guide pulley [8 to individually rotatable, grooved sheaves 20 and 2| mounted rotatably on a fixed plate 22 and forming a portion of a walking beam storage device 23. The cordage extends in one complete loop around the sheaves 2E! and 2| and a sheave 24 mounted rotatably on a lever 26 pivoted at the midpoint thereof on a pin 28 fixed to the plate 22, and travels through a ring outter 30 mounted on the plate to one of individually rotatable, grooved sheaves 32 and 33 mounted rotatably on the plate. The cordage extends in one complete loop around the sheave 32, a grooved sheave 34 carried by the lever 26 and the sheave 33, and goes from the sheave 33 to and through a slitter 36 and between stripping discs 38 and 40 to the capstan [5 from which it'is taken up by a separately driven takeupreel 42.

An electric motor 44 drives a sprocket 46 and the stripping disc 40 through a gear box 48 and a chain 50, and the disc 38 is driven by the disc 40 through gears 52 and 54 at the same rate of speed as but in a direction opposite to that in which the disc 43 is rotated. The discs are provided with peripheral grooves 56 and 58, and engage the cordage l0 therebetween. The discs are driven at the same peripheral rate of speed as the linear rate of speed at which the cordage is advanced by the capstan [5, which is driven positive through the drive of the disc).

One end of an actuating lever 68 mountedpivotally on a pin 62 projecting from the plate 22 is connected by a link 64 to the lever 26, and

the other end thereof carries a cam follower 66 which is biased against a cam 68 carried with the disc 38. As the cam is turned to the position thereof shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, the cam follower is moved from the dotted-line position thereof to the broken-line position thereof and engages a dwell portion III of the cam. As the cam follower is so moved, the lever 66 moves the lever 26 and the sheaves 24 and 34 from their full-line positions to their broken-line positions. During such movement, the sheave 24 is moved farther from the sheaves 20 and 2| thereby lengthening the cordage looped around these sheaves, and simultaneously the sheave 34 is moved the same distance toward the sheaves 32 and 33 thereby shortening the cordage looped around these sheaves the same length that the cordage on the sheaves 24, 20 and 2| is lengthened.

Since the sheaves 32, 33 and 34 give up cordage stored thereby at the same rate that the sheaves 26, 2! and 24 take up cordage for storage, the rate of speed at which the cordage is advanced from the supply reel It to the sheave 26 and from the sheave 32 to the capstan I is not affected by such movement of the sheaves 24 and 34. However, these movements of the sheaves 24 and 34 are at such a rate that the sheaves 26, 2| and 24 take up additional cordage and the sheaves 32, 33 and 34 give up cordage at the same rate of speed as that at which the capstan I5 advances the cordage so that the portion of the cordage between the sheave 2| and the sheave 32 is stationary during such movements of the sheaves 24 and 34.

Shortly after the portion of the cordage I6 between the sheaves 2i and 32 becomes stationary, a lobe '76 of a cam 80 (Figs. 2 and 4), which is driven by the sprocket 46, of the ring cutter 36, is moved out of engagement with a cam follower 62 supporting a yoke 84 mounted pivotally on a pin 86, and a dwell portion 68 of the cam 66 is moved opposite to the follower 82. This permits the yoke to pivot by gravity in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, and pairs of grooved backing rollers 966E! carried by arms 9292 clamped to the yoke engage spaced portions of the cordage and press these portions of the cordage against rapidly rotating cutting discs 94-34 (Figs. 1 and 4) driven by an electric motor. The cutting discs cut into the jacket I2 of the cordage to a predetermined depth permitted by adjustment screws 9686 and a stop bar 98, which depth is almost as great as the wall-thickness of the jacket. Adjustment as to height of the cutting discs is provided by loosenable clamping bolts SST-91 and adjustment screws 62-69 carried by the plate 22.

As the cordage I3 is pressed toward the cutting discs 9494 by the yoke 84, cams Ifit-I 66 (Fig. 2) engaged by spring-pressed follower sleeves |fl2|62, which are mounted slidably on a bushing I63 of collets I6'4-I64'are rotated by a gear I66 to positions permitting the follower sleeves to close split chuck jaws I68I6B on the portions of the cordage adjacent thereto. The jaws IU8I68 then grip the cordage tightly, and the gear I 66, which is driven by a shaft I I0 driving the cam 86, rotates the collets through a gear H2 formed on the bushing I133. The collets then rotate the portions of the cordage engaged by the cutting discs 6494 through somewhat over 360 so that the jacket of the cordage is out completely around at the points engaged by the cutting discs. The cams IIl|J|66 then actuate the collets I04I64 to release the cordage as the cam moves the yoke 84 away from the cutting discs and guide loops I|4| I4 secured to the arms 9292 move the cordage away from the cutting discs.

The cam 68 (Fig. 1) then causes movement of the lever 26 from its broken-line position to its full-line position, and keeps it in this position until just prior to the next ring-cutting operation, occurring almost one revolution of the cam 68 away. As the lever is moved to its full-line position, the cordage is given up by the sheaves 26, 2| and 24 and is taken up by the sheaves 32, 33 and 34 in equal lengths so that the rate of speed of the portions of the cordage to the left of the sheave 20, as viewed in Fig. 1, and to the right of the sheave 32 is unaffected.

The slitter 36 (Figs. 1 and 5) includes a pair of knife arms I26 and I22 mounted pivotally on posts I24- and I26, respectively, mounted on a bracket I26 secured to the plate 22. The arms I26 and I22 are provided with intermeshing segmental gears |36 and I32, respectively, and carry removably slitting blades I34 and I36, respectively, in positions offset therefrom, and the arm I26 carries a cam follower I38, which is biased by a spring I46 against a cam I42 fastened to the stripping disc 36. The spring I46 secured to the arms I26 and I22 urges the arms toward one another and the knives I34 and I36 toward the cordage I6 guided therebetween by guide arms I44 and I423 having grooves I46 and I50, respectively, and mounted pivotally on the posts I24 and I26. The guide arms are urged against the cordage by compression springs |52-|52 mounted on adjustment screws I54-|54 screwed through lugs I56-I56 projecting from the knife arms I26 and I22.

While a portion of the cordage It not to be slit passes between the knives I34 and I36, a lobe I56 of the earn 542 engages the cam follower I38, thereby holding the knife arms in positions holding the knives I34 and I36 separated and away from the cordage. While the knives are held separate, the springs I52-I52 urge the guide arms I44 against the cordage to center the cordage between the knives and keep the cordage out of contact with the knives.

As a ring cut'I60 formed in the cordage II), which is the advance one of a pair of ring cuts formed simultaneously, arrives at a position abreast the knives I34 and I36, the cam lobe I58 is moved out of engagement with the cam follower I38, and a dwell portion I62 of the cam M2 is moved abreast the follower I38. The spring I46 then closes the knife arms I26 and I22 to the extent permitted by the adjustment screws I54-I 54 engaging the guide arms I44 and I46, which extent is just sufiicient to cause the knives I34 and I36 to out almost completely through the jacket I2 at opposite sides thereof. The jacket then is slit from the ring out I66 to a ring out I64, which is the trailing ring out of the simultaneously formed pair. As the ring cut I64 arrives at the knives, the beginning portion of the lobe I56 of the cam I42 is revolved by the disc 38 into engagement'with the cam follower I38 to move the knives away from the cordage. Thus, the slitter 36 forms opposed slits in the jacket I 2 of the continuously moving cordage II] from the ring out I60 to the ring cut I64 in synchronism with the movement of the disc 36, the operation-of the ring cutter 30 and the advancement of the cordage by the capstan I5.

Just after the ring cut I60 is advanced to the point of tangency or bite of the stripping discs 38 and 40, grippers I10 and I12 (Figs. 1, 3 and 7) are moved into engagement with the cordage at points spaced just behind the ring cut I60. As the grippers are so moved, pinions I 14II4 keyed to shafts I16-I16 mounted in fixed bearings I11-I1'i engage pins I18--I18 fastened to the plate 22, and are turned 90. This turning of the pinions revolves pins I80-I80 extending transversely to the shafts I1 6I 16 from positions holding jaws I82I82 away from the jaws I84I84 against the actions of compression springs I86 I86 to positions extending along grooves I88-I 88 formed in the jaws I82I82 and I84-I84, and the springs I86- I86 close the jaws on the portions of the jacket on opposite sides of the cordage and separated by the slits formed by the slitter 36. The jaws I82-I82 and I84I84 are mounted in sockets I81-I81 formed in the discs 38-and 40. The pairs of jaws I82I82 and I84 I84 grip the portions of the jacket firmly, and as the discs 38 and 40 are turned, pull the gripped portions of the jacket apart along the slits and from the cordage starting with the ringc'ut I60 and separating along the slits in the jacket.

As the stripping discs 38 and 40 rotate, pointed pins I30I90 carried by these discs behind the grippers I10 and I12 impale the jacket I2 and aid the grippers in pulling the portions of the jacket separated by the slits apart and from the cordage. As the ring out I64 approaches the bite of the stripping discs 38 and. 40, cams I92I92 carried by the stripping discs engage arms I34- I94 of bellcrank levers I96I 96 mounted on posts I98-I9 8 secured to the plate 22 to move rollers 200-200 carried by arms 202202 of the bellcrank levers into guide grooves 204204 formed in the stripping discs. As the rollers are so moved, they engage the stripped portions of the jacket and roll these portions into the guide grooves, thereby placing the stripped portions of the jacket under tension back to the bite of the stripping discs. Rollers 206-206 facilitate movement of the stripped portions of the jacket as these portions are stretched so that the tensile stress is transmitted along these portions to the bite of the stripping discs. As the ring cut I64 comes to the bite of the discs, the tension on the portions of the jacket being stripped break any portion of the jacket not out completely through at the ring out I64 so that the stripped portions of the jacket are separated completely from the cordage. Just after the stripped portions of the jacket are separated completely from the cordage, the cams I32-I92 move out of engagement with the arms I34-I94 of the bellcrank levers I96I96 to permit free movement of the bellcrank levers as the rollers 200-200 roll through the grooves 204-204 and are biased against the peripheries of the stripping discs by tension springs 2I0-2I0.

As the grippers I10 and I12 are rotated further, the pinions I14-I14 (Fig. 3) engage pins 2I2-- 2l2 (Fig. 1) and are turned 90. This turns the pins I80I80 (Fig. 3) to positions transverse to the grooves I88-I88 to open the jaws I82-I82 and I84-I84 thereby releasing the stripped portions of the jacket. The forward ends of the stripped portions of the jacket then are moved into engagement with stripping fingers 2I62I6 extending to the peripheries of the stripping discs 38 and 40. The fingers 2I62I6 lift the stripped portions out of the grippers, off the pins I90I90 and out of the grooves 56 and 58 in the stripping discs so that the stripped portions fall off the stripping discs.

The circumference of the grooves 56 and 58 are equal and of a length equal to that of a portion of the cordage from one ring out to the ring cut'once removed therefrom. Hence, the apparatus described hereinabove strips portions of the jacket of uniform length and spaced uniform- 1y along the cordage.

Operation The apparatus described hereinabove advances the cordage continuously at a constant rate of speed from the supply reel I6, which is braked, to the sheave 20 and from the sheave 33, past the slitter 36 and the stripping discs 38 and 40 and around the capstan I5 to the takeup reel 42 at that rate of speed. The movement of the cordage from the sheave 2| to the sheave 32 is in cycles for each cord length of the cordage, each of which cycles includes no movement while the ring cutter'30 ring cuts the cordage, movement above the rate of speed caused by the capstan I5 after each pair of ring cuts are made and the capstan rateof speed between these two variants while the lever 26 is stationary. The sheaves 32, 33 and 34 give up cordage while the portion of the cordage between the sheaves 2I and 32 is stationary and the sheaves 20, 2I and 24 take up the cordage simultaneously with this giving up thereof. Conversely,.after*each' pair of ring cuts is made, the sheaves 20, 2I and 24 give up length of cordage and the sheaves 32, 33 and 34 take up length of the cordage at an equal rate of speed.

While the portion of the cordage I0 between the sheaves :2I and 32 is stationary, the cam (Figs. 2 and 4) actuates the yoke 84 to move the cordage into engagement with the cutting discs 9494, and the cams I00-I00 and the gear I06 actuate the co-llets I04-I04 to grip the cordage and turn it so that it, is ring out by the cutting discs. This occurs every cord length at points spaced uniformly from the preceding and succeeding respective ring cuts.

The cordage I0 having been ring out is advanced from the sheave 32 through the slitter 36 and between the stripping discs 38 and 40 and portions of r the jacket are slit and stripped continuously.

The above-described apparatus serves to continuously advance the cordage at a high rate of speed without interruption in the paying out and taking up of the cordage while a periodic operation, ring cutting in the illustration used, requiring non-advanced cordage is effected. The walking beam storage device 23 provides periodically stationary portions of the cordage without interruptions in the advancement of the cordage.

While the ring cutter 30, the slitter 36 and the stripping elements have been described hereinabove in conjunction with the article-advancing device forming the present invention, these mechanisms have been described for purposes of illustration only and the article-advancing device obviously can be used wherever it is advantageous to have portions of a filamentary article periodically stationary and other portions thereof advanced continuously. The entire combination of the cordage-processing elements and the article-advancing device is disclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 77,546, filed, February 21, 1949, by J. H. Penn and P. R. Powell for Apparatus for Processing Cordage.

In the use of the terms filamentary article, filament, or the like, it is intended to include cordage, twine, wire, covered conductors, tapes and the like.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for advancing filaments from a storage device, which comprises a filamentsupp-lying means, means spaced from the filament-supplying means for advancing a filament at a constant predetermined rate of speed, a group of individually rotatable guide sheaves mounted for rotation on a stationary axis, a second group of individually rotatable guide sheaves mounted for rotation on a second stationary axis spaced from and substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the first-mentioned group of guide sheaves, a lever having arms of equal length and extending in a position offset from the groups of guide sheaves, at least one guide sheave mounted on one end of the lever, at least one guide sheave mounted on the other end of the lever so that a filament advanced from the filament-supplying means by the filament-advancing means along a path from the filament-supplying means to one of the first-mentioned group of guide sheaves, from that guide sheave to the guide sheave on the arm of the lever most adjacent thereto, from that guide sheave to another guide sheave of the first group of guide sheaves, from that guide sheave to one of the guide sheaves of the second-mentioned group of guide sheaves, from that guide sheave to the guide sheave mounted on the other arm of the lever, from that guide sheave to one of the other guide sheaves of the second-mentioned group of guide sheaves, and from that guide sheave to the filament-advancing means, and periodically operable cam means for pivoting the lever so that, when one of the guide sheaves mounted on the arms thereof is moved toward the group of guide sheaves most adjacent thereto, the guide sheave on the other arm of the lever is moved away from the other group of guide sheaves, whereby a predetermined length of the filament is taken up by one of the guide sheaves of the lever and the group of guide sheaves most adjacent thereto and is an equal length thereof given up by the other guide sheave on the lever and the group of guide sheaves most adjacent thereto.

"2. Apparatus for advancing communication cordage from a supply reel through a storage device to a take-up reel, which comprises a frame positioned between the supply reel and the takeup reel, 2. walking .beam pivotally mounted at its center on the frame, two sheaves rotatably mounted on the opposite ends of the beam, a pair of initial guide sheaves freely rotatable side by side on the frame and in alignment with one beam sheave, a pair of final guide sheaves spaced a predetermined distance from the first mentioned guide sheaves and freely rotatable side by side on the frame and in alignment with the other beam sheave, a continuously rotating capstan for withdrawing cordage from the supply reel, advancing it seriatim over one of the initial guide sheaves, over the sheave on the adjacent end of the beam, over the other initial guide sheave, to one of the final guide sheaves, over the sheave on the opposite end of the beam, over the other final guide sheave and to the take-up reel, and cam means for intermittently rocking the walking beam in opposite directions in timed relation to the advance of the cordage so that when the beam is rocked in on direction the first looped portion of the cordage is lengthened while the second looped portion thereof is shortened and when the beam is rocked in the opposite direction the firstlooped portion of the cordage is shortened while the second looped portion thereof is lengthened, whereby a portion of the co-rdage remains stationary while the remainder of the Cordage is moving.

PAUL R. POWELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7, Great Britain Mar. 18, 1943 

